Nibelheim
Finally out of the red rocks that housed Cosmo Canyon, the buggy left the mountains behind it to reach grassy plains once more.
"Bout time," declared Barret. "Was getting' sick o' seein' orange everywhere." Cloud usually might have taken the opportunity to tell Barret to shut up, but was occupied with his own thoughts.
"Cloud?" said Tifa. "Are we going…"
"Yes," said Cloud, knowing that her thoughts were on the exact same subject as his. For these weren't just any grasslands they were now cruising through, but instead were the plains that lay out before their old hometown of Nibelheim. He hadn't been back since the night of the fire, the night that had changed everything, and thus had no idea what to expect. Perhaps there wouldn't even be a town there anymore. Either way, he wasn't looking forward to it. Rather, every fiber of his being was screaming against returning to the town, with a vehemence that surprised him. There was the horror that transpired five years ago, certainly, but there was something more, some deep-seated, apparently irrational fear, the source of which Cloud could not put his finger on. However, there was still the irrepressible feeling in his gut that had been guiding him since Costa del Sol that this was the way he had to go if he was to find Sephiroth. Cloud had too many inexplicable mental processes going on in his mind for his liking, but there was nothing for it now but to follow his gut to Sephiroth.
"Hey, look, there's a town up ahead!" said Aeris from the front passenger seat. Cloud's head shot up to look. Indeed, approaching quickly from the horizon, was the small remote village of Nibelheim, shadowed by its looming namesake, Mt. Nibel, the tallest of the Renasto mountain range, further to the north.
"And this is home…" said Cloud quietly.
"This is your hometown? Nibelheim, was it?" said Aeris. Cloud nodded.
"Huh? This is that place Sephiroth burned up?" asked Barret.
Cloud nodded again. "Back to where it all started…I should've known Sephiroth would come back here."
"It would appear that he has chosen to leave it intact, this time," remarked Red XIII as Tifa pulled the buggy to a stop at the town's outskirts, and Cloud saw his point: the town had been rebuilt, and appeared none the worse for Sephiroth's passage. It was more or less just as it was, before: a two story inn near the entrance, a simple fountain in the town square, with a variety of small shops and houses surrounding it, and. Overall, a quiet little hamlet established at the base of a mountain that had little to do with the events of the world as a whole. Or at least it hadn't until it became the impetus for Sephiroth's fall. But still, with his last memories of the town being its being consumed with flames, it was quite unsettling for Cloud to see Nibelheim so normal and peaceful, as if that day five years ago had been all in him imagination. But Tifa had been there, too.
"It's a nice little town," said Aeris. "Was it like this when you were here?"
"Yeah," said Cloud. "Almost exactly like this, in fact. My house used to be over there," he said, pointing to one of the dwellings across the square, "and that was Tifa's next door."
"Tifa," said Cloud, "do you remember that guy with the camera, from five years ago? He asked to take a picture of Sephiroth?"
"Hm? Yes, I think so…" said Tifa.
"I saved him that night in the fire, I'll bet he's still here. Let's try and find him."
"W-why?" said Tifa, sounding uncomfortable. "Do you really want to see that picture?"
"No, but I wouldn't mind finding out what's happened here in the past five years, and seeing if he knew anything about Sephiroth. What was his name?"
"Um, Nelson, I think. George Nelson."
"Alright," said Cloud, as he strode around the fountain to cross the town square. "This was his house, I think," he said as he approached one of the small houses and knocked at the door. A few moments later an unfamiliar woman opened the door.
"Um, hello?" she said uncertainly. Cloud was suddenly aware of the makeup of their motley crew: three animals, a massive gun-armed man, two women, a young teenager, and himself, a man clad entirely in black with a mysterious leather bag. Well, not much to be done about it now.
"Yes, I was wondering if you knew of a George Nelson?"
"George Nelson? No, I'm sorry, that doesn't sound familiar."
"He used to live in the house right here before the fire five years ago," said Cloud.
"Oh, the fire? Yes, I heard about that, what a horrible tragedy. But I'm sorry, there were no survivors. I'm afraid he must be dead."
Cloud shook his head. "No, there were survivors. Myself and this young woman, for two," he said, gesturing to Tifa. "And I believe this Nelson survived as well."
The woman looked nervous for a moment, but then anger rose to her face. "Sir, I moved here soon after the fire, and I'm quite sure there weren't any survivors. You shouldn't joke about things like that."
"Joke?" said Cloud. "You think this is a joke to us? My mother died in that fire, I watched my entire hometown die right before my eyes. Don't tell me this is a fucking joke!"
"I'm calling the police," said the woman, ducking inside and slamming the door.
"What was that all about?" asked Cait Sith.
"Bullshit, that's what it was about," said Cloud. "She doesn't know what she's talking about, let's find someone who does."
They visited several more people, but garnered similar results to the first. "What the hell?" exclaimed Cloud as yet another door slammed on them. "What is wrong with these people?
"Forget them, what's wrong with this guy?" said Yuffie. Cloud angrily turned to see what she was talking about, and saw her gesturing to a hunch-backed figure ambling along the streets, completely covered in a cloak. A black cloak…
"Sephiroth!" Cloud said, approaching the figure.
"Se-phi-roth…" the figure said slowly, in an almost inhuman voice.
"Ey, look, there's another one!" said Barret, pointing down a small cobblestone path. And indeed, there was another hobbling figure, hidden in black. Well, it would seem that it wasn't Sephiroth then. But still, there was something very familiar about these men.
"Cloud!" said Aeris. "Do you remember that guy back home in Sector 5? The sick guy in the pipe?"
"Yeah…" said Cloud thoughtfully, thinking back to the moaning man, also clad in black. But he had had a tattoo, the number "2", if Cloud remembered correctly…Cloud reached for the figure and brushed aside the cloak to look at his arm. The man promptly moved away, but not before Cloud caught a glimpse of a "4" tattooed on his bicep. So these cloaked men appeared connected to that man in the pipe back in Midgar. Interesting, but it told them nothing. Still, Cloud didn't trust coincidences, particularly when Sephiroth was in the picture. "Let's see what these guys are up to," he said, and quickly strode up to the figure Barret had pointed out. Cloud was little surprised to see several more identical figures walking in the same direction. But he was surprised when he observed where they all seemed to be heading.
"Damn…"said Cloud quietly. For he found himself staring up at the all-too familiar black exterior of the ShinRa mansion, apparently the only building in town that had survived the flames, thanks to its distance from the rest of the town. "Or maybe because Sephiroth wanted it to survive," Cloud thought. After all, it was here where he had found the books and records that had told him what he was. Maybe this place still held some importance to him. Wordlessly he led the way towards the towering building, the rest of the team following.
"Cloud, do you really think this is such a good idea?" Tifa said, catching up with him. But seeing the look in his face, she dropped the question and was silent.
The rusty gate of the fence surrounding the manor squealed a complaint as Cloud swung it open and marched through the barren front yard towards the front door. Apparently while the mansion had survived the flames, it had remained unoccupied for many if not all of the past five years. He tried the front door, and was relatively unsurprised to find it unlocked. Steeling himself against the memories contained within the dark walls, Cloud took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway.
The interior of the house was much as Cloud remembered, the pale sunlight from the overcast sky outside streaming in through the many huge windows to light the fashionably furnished interior, though a thick coat of dust over the floor betrayed the lack of activity the mansion had seen in recent years.
"I don't see any of those cloaked guys in here," remarked Yuffie.
"But someone has been here recently," said Red XIII.
Cloud turned to him sharply. "How do you know?"
"There is dust fluttering in the air, more than we have disturbed with our own entrance," he replied. "There is also a faint scent which I cannot quite identify, but I believe it to be something alive."
"One o' those guys in black?" said Barret.
Red XIII sniffed the air several times, then shook his maned head. "I cannot tell."
Cloud nodded. "Everyone fan out and search the place. Give a shout if you find anything or anyone."
The group dispersed to the different wings of the large house. Cloud took it upon himself to search the upper right wing of the house, where he had found the staircase leading down to the basement, and Sephiroth. He entered the dim hallway and searched the two smaller rooms, apparently servants' quarters due to the inferior décor and creature comforts, before taking a deep breath and moving on to the final room. His eyes automatically jumped to the stone wall of the room, and he felt his stomach drop out. The old wooden door was swinging open, freshly lit torches illuminating the rickety stairway down into the basement. Someone was down there.
He called out something, he wasn't even aware what. Tifa was the first to arrive. "Everything alright, Cloud?" she said, before her eyes were drawn to the open door. She instantly realized the significance of this detail, and instinctively clutched his arm. Soon the rest of the team was gathered in the bare, musty chamber.
"So you found the door like that, Cloud?" Barret asked. Cloud nodded. "Shit, man, so does that mean…"
"Cloud, is it him?" Aeris asked. Cloud was confused until he remembered his innate sense of Sephiroth's direction. Odd that it hadn't alerted him the moment he entered the house, or discovered the doorway. He considered for a moment, concentrating on what his gut was telling him rather than any conscious thoughts. "I think so…" he said. "But I don't know…something seems wrong."
"Wrong? Like a trap?" said Cait Sith.
Cloud shook his head. "No, just something seems off. It feels like Sephiroth, but…I don't know, something just feels different than it should, I can't explain it."
"Well, I dunno 'bout any o' that, but I know what we gotta do now," said Barret. "Let's get down there and kick his ass!"
"What if he has that freaky monster thing with him again?" asked Yuffie.
Cloud's stomach tightened further. He had forgotten about Jenova, Sephiroth's monstrous mother-figure which had fought for him aboard the ShinRa freighter. "I don't think Jenova is with him," he responded. "The quarters down there are pretty tight, I doubt she'd have much room to operate." He didn't mention the true reason for his judgment: that he did not sense her terrible, all-too familiar presence. He noted with discomfort that Aeris gave him a characteristic piercing glance at this, but she said nothing. "Okay, so is everyone ready?" There was a chorus of uncertain murmurs at this. "C'mon people, get in gear!" Cloud said forcefully. "This is it! Now are you ready?"
"Hell yeah! Let's do this!" said Barret, raising his gun-arm. The rest added their own slightly more convincing assents, Aeris and Yuffie drawing their weapons, Mog the moogle starting to bounce slightly with Cait Sith atop.
"Alright, let's go," said Cloud, as he drew his own weapon and cautiously started down the staircase. The questionable-looking stairs again held his weight readily, and Cloud ignored Barret's inevitable protest about the security of the staircase. He needed to focus on the upcoming fight. But even he could not fully get his mind in gear for battle. There was no sense of urgency, of finality, and he could not shake the feeling that while the person downstairs doubtlessly felt like Sephiroth, that something was not right, that this was not the end. He shook his head free of such groundless doubts. He was here, as was Sephiroth. It was time to finish it.
He reached the ground of the horribly familiar dark dungeon-like basement of the mansion. The basement again seemed lifeless save for a few torches adorning the walls, and a light exuding from the distant door at the end of the corridor, behind which Cloud knew lay the library where Sephiroth had discovered the secrets which changed him, and Cloud, forever. But even the distant, beckoning light could not completely distract Cloud from the stifling atmosphere of despair in the basement that had overwhelmed him five years ago. And though he was now older and in the company of his team, he could not help but feel unease creep into his heart from an unknown source. Cloud shook himself free of the inexplicable fear and strode quickly to the library door, Buster Sword in hand. He waited until the entire team was grouped behind him, their own weapons at the ready, took a deep breath, and kicked open the door.
The old door flew off its hinges, clattering to the stone floor, and Cloud leapt through the doorway, quickly swiveling to the left where the majority of the bookshelves lay. Nothing. But then, Sephiroth had been beyond the passageway here in the final room of the library. Cloud sprinted through the narrow, book-lined passageway to the left of the doorway into the end, circular room. And there, standing behind a desk at the far end of the room, was Sephiroth.
But again, something seemed wrong with him. As before, on the ShinRa ship, Sephiroth seemed out of sorts, standing awkwardly and gazing off at nothing in particular.
"Sephiroth!" Cloud yelled, determined that his enemy knew who faced him. And as before, Sephiroth's head jerked up, his eyes came into focus, and he was promptly himself once more.
"There you are," said the hated voice. "I was wondering when you would make it. But then, you seem to have a habit of finding diversions along your way, don't you?"
"Not my choice, believe me," Cloud said through gritted teeth. "All I care about is finding you and finishing this."
"Of course," said Sephiroth. "But what exactly is it that you think you are finishing?"
"This rivalry. I tried to kill you five years ago, and didn't. I'm here to finish it."
"Rivalry? You think you are my rival?" said Sephiroth, the smallest trace of a smile on his face. "Cloud, do not flatter yourself. But then, whatever excuses you tell yourself do not matter to me."
"Shut up and draw…where's your sword?" said Cloud, for there was no trace of the Masamune. Strange, Cloud could not imagine Sephiroth traveling without his massive katana.
Sephiroth shrugged. "It is someplace safe. I do not require it at the moment."
"So much the better for us," Cloud said, squaring himself in a ready position.
"Save yourself the trouble, Strife, there will be no battle today," said Sephiroth calmly. "In fact, I must depart."
"You aren't going anywhere!" Cloud said, stepping forward.
Sephiroth simply smiled and shook his head. "But wait," he said, staring past Cloud at one of the group. "There you are." Cloud turned, and saw that Sephiroth was looking at Aeris.
"Me?" Aeris said, surprised.
"You are the Cetra, the last of the Cetra," said Sephiroth, now ignoring Cloud along with the rest of the group, concentrating solely on the flower girl.
"So?"
"What are you doing with these misguided travelers? Surely there are much grander ends that a Cetra could pursue than this migration," said Sephiroth, not unkindly.
"What do you mean?" said Aeris, her voice now an odd mix of affected bravado and real fear.
"I imagine there is much you would like to know about your race, much that you will not learn on your current journey. And while your people themselves may have vanished, their legacy lives on."
"Their legacy..?"
"The Temple of the Ancients," said Sephiroth. "One of the last remaining strongholds of the Cetra. The spirit of the Cetra lives on in that place. There is much you could learn about there about your people, about yourself."
"You…you're lying! Why would you tell me that?" said Aeris.
"Why would I not?" said Sephiroth. "There is no need for us to be enemies."
"I don't believe you," said Aeris, though she could not hide her trembling voice.
Sephiroth shrugged. "As you wish." He turned back to Cloud. "I trust I shall see you at the Reunion?"
The Reunion…
"Reunion? What the hell are you talking about?" demanded Cloud.
Sephiroth was about to speak, but was cut off by a shout of "Fuck this!" from behind as Barret opened fire with his gun-arm. Sephiroth grunted and stepped backward as the bullets hit, but then stood tall once more. The bullets were now passing harmlessly through him as easily as through the air itself, stopping only when they ripped into the bookcase behind him.
"I suppose that is my cue to leave," said Sephiroth. He raised his arms and suddenly started rising towards the ceiling.
"Sephiroth!" said Cloud, but the SOLDIER continued his slow ascent. Cloud whipped forward his sword into a quick rising slash, but his blade passed through Sephiroth as easily as had Barret's bullets, and with as little effect. Before Cloud knew it Sephiroth was passing straight through the ceiling as he had phased through the floor of the ShinRa ship.
"Dammit Barret, you idiot!" said Cloud. He had been sure Sephiroth was about to say something important about this Reunion when Barret had attacked. "C'mon!" he said, as he broke through the team behind him and charged back through the basement. He knew Sephiroth was leaving this place. Cloud had to get out of the mansion and see where Sephiroth was going, he had to catch him before he vanished again. He ran up the stairs, and through the upstairs hallway, leapt from the balcony to the bottom floor, and burst through the front doors to find: nothing. There was no sign of Sephiroth anywhere, and even the strange black-cloaked men seemed to have disappeared. Cloud cursed violently.
"Where is he?" said Tifa.
"Hell if I know!" said Cloud. But then it hit him. "Mount Nibel," he said. "It has to be! Unless he were to backtrack, he'd have to go over Mount Nibel."
"Well then, let's go get the bastard!" said Barret.
Cloud was about to agree, but shook his head. "No…some of us should get the car and see if we can find another pass through the mountains and cut him off.
"You mean split up?" said Tifa.
Cloud ignored this. There was no time. "Tifa, you know the mountains better than any of us. Is there a pass that could accommodate the car?
"Um, I don't know…"
"Well then find one. Take Barret and Cait Sith, and try and find a path for the car through the mountains. The rest of us will follow him on foot."
"But…but what if you find him without us? You'll need all of us if we're going to fight him, right?" said Tifa.
"Dammit Tifa, not now!" said Cloud, and she shrunk back before his gaze, blazing with a fury not often seen in the impassive mercenary. "We have to make sure we find him if we're going to fight him at all! I am not losing him again! Now go!" Tifa reluctantly nodded, but only left when Barret dragged her off, Cait Sith in tow. "Okay, the rest of you, follow me!" said Cloud, and he ran for the mountain pass that was so laden with memories.
Though he had not traveled the path in five years, Cloud remembered the path perfectly, and he hardly slowed as he ran through the tight corridors through the mountain, past the Mako fountain where Sephiroth had told him about Materia and the Ancients, and up to the Mako reactor.
"Cloud, might Sephiroth not be inside? This reactor might have significance for him, correct?" said Red XIII as they approached.
"No. There's nothing for him there now," called Cloud over his shoulder, running all the while. He could not explain how he knew this, but there was no time to check his intuition, no time to stop. He ran from the Mako reactor's clearing back into another series of tunnels. He had never been this far along the path, and the pitch-black passages were unfamiliar. Even his Mako-enhanced eyes had trouble piercing the darkness sufficiently for him to avoid plunging into a wall. But he had to keep going, had to find Sephiroth, had to-
"OW! Son-of-a-bitch!" cried out a voice behind him. Cloud paid it no heed until a second voice called out "Cloud!" rather forcefully. He stopped his run and turned around. After a moment, he saw Yuffie lying on the floor, hands over a cut in her head.
"Keep going," he said flatly, and turned to run off again.
"She has just run headfirst into a stone wall, and you tell her to continue?" said Red XIII. "And what of Aeris?" Growling, Cloud turned to see Aeris bent over double, struggling to draw breath. "I'm…fine…Cloud," she managed. "Just…leave us…here…"
"Okay," said Cloud, preparing to leave.
"Cloud!" called Red XIII again.
"WHAT?"
Red XIII gazed up at him, unfazed. "You will not leave them here."
"Watch me," spat Cloud.
"I do not know what your ShinRa training taught you, but I was taught to never leave wounded comrades behind, and to protect females when necessary. These two are in no condition to defend themselves if Sephiroth attacked them, and I will not abandon them. If you continue, you do so alone."
"No, Red…don't worry about…us," Aeris panted. "We can take…care of ourselves."
It was this all-too familiar refrain from Aeris that finally caught Cloud's ear, and how strikingly in contrast it was with the reality of the situation. One of them was now bleeding profusely from a gash in the forehead, the other incapacitated with exhaustion. Red XIII was right: if Sephiroth found them like this, there would be no question of the outcome. And it was only as this thought dawned on him that he truly realized why he had wanted the easily fatigued Aeris to accompany him in the chase rather than stay behind with Tifa and Barret in the car: he had wanted to personally protect her from Sephiroth, who had shown such a disproportionate interest in her.
"Alright," Cloud said. "Let's just get out of these tunnels to somewhere with some light and get you two taken care of,"
"'Bout time," muttered Yuffie, holding a hand to her wound, and even Aeris did not protest as Cloud led them back to the clearing hosting the Mako reactor. He settled the two down on a pair of more or less accommodating rocks, Red XIII standing by. He cast a Cure spell on Yuffie, and though the gash on her forehead did not close completely, it at least stopped bleeding.
"You two alright for now?" Cloud asked. The girls nodded. "Okay, I'm going to see how the rest are doing." He took off his pack and dug through it until he found the PHS radio that Barret had distributed. He flicked on the radio, which instantly started spouting static. "This is Cloud, come in Tifa, Barret, Cait Sith." Several tries resulted in nothing, but at last a familiar voice responded "Spiky ass, what up? You find 'im?"
"We lost him," said Cloud flatly. "How about you three? Can you find a way through the mountains?"
Barret hesitated. "Eh, hold on, 'ere's Tifa."
"Cloud?" said Tifa's voice. "I've driven all along the edge of the mountains around Nibelheim, but it's pretty steep, a lot worse than those mountains where Red XIII came from. There's no way we could get the car up, and I don't think the rest of the mountain range would be any different even if I went further. I don't think we can do it."
It was all he could do to keep from dashing the radio to pieces on the ground. Shaking with fury, he set the radio down, then whipped out his sword, screamed, and slammed it down, burying its point in the rocky soil.
"Cloud? Are you alright?" Tifa's voice crackled up from the ground. Breathing hard, Cloud bent down and retrieved it.
"Okay, here's what we're gonna do," said Cloud. "The four of us are going to go ahead and see if we can find any trace of Sephiroth, but I doubt we're going to catch him unless he wants to be found. You all stay behind here and scour the town, see if you can find any clue as to where he's going."
"You mean, we're staying behind?"
Cloud ignored this. "Try and find some of those guys in black. If not, look around in the mansion basement, see if you can dig anything up in the library that he may have been looking through before we got there.
"But Cloud, we're splitting up?"
"We'll keep in touch with the PHS, and if either of us finds anything, we'll join up again. But we can't afford to pass over any information Sephiroth may have left behind. If you didn't notice, Sephiroth seemed to be pretty comfortable back there, he seemed to have a plan, not to mention that even when we did corner him, he had no problem getting out. We need to find out what's going on and try to get a step ahead of him. Any questions?"
"N-no, I guess not."
"Okay, Cloud out."